ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,275 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 18,076 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.28% of Badger Meter worth $15,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $47,359,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 397,614 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,380,000 after purchasing an additional 100,304 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Badger Meter by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,127,000 after purchasing an additional 74,578 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,360,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 126,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,499,000 after purchasing an additional 40,400 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.9 %

BMI opened at $219.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $201.15 and a 200 day moving average of $187.03. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.06 and a 12 month high of $220.25. The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $216.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $791,505. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.20.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives.